The Supreme Court was hearing in the case for the cash for job scam case related to former Tamil Nadu minister V Senthil Balaji. There are 2 thousand accused in this case and more than 500 witnesses, due to which the court has reprimanded the Tamil Nadu government. A bench of Justice Suryakant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi reprimanded the government for hearing cases related to the former minister. Also, the court has sought a list of all 2000 accused and 500 witnesses from the state.
The court said, with more than 2000 accused and 500 witnesses, it will be India’s highest crowded lawsuit. A small court room of the court will not be enough for this, but a cricket stadium will also be required to register the presence of the accused.
Court reprimanded Tamil Nadu government
The bench of Justice Suryakant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said that if there was no judicial intervention, the state government wanted to end matters in a respectable manner. The Supreme Court told Gopal Shankaranarayanan, the lawyer of Senthil Balaji, with more than 2000 accused and 500 witnesses, it will be the most populous case in the country.
The court said, many accused from AI will suddenly come forward to register their presence. Earlier on Tuesday, the Supreme Court had reprimanded the Tamil Nadu government. The Supreme Court on Tuesday admitted that the Tamil Nadu government wants to delay the trial by including 2000 accused.
What did the court say in the case?
Justice Kant, while seeking details of the accused, said, “We would like to know who, apart from the minister, who were the alleged brokers or middlemen?” Who were the officers who took action on the minister’s recommendations? Who were the members of the selection committee? Who were the appointment officers? “
The court further said that, given that the state’s effort focuses on ensuring that the proceedings of the trial during Balaji’s lifetime are not complete, the bench said that the poor people or their operatives are being implicated as bribes forced by the former minister or their operatives to pay for the job and are being accused in cases related to “scam”.
What is full cash for land scam
Senthil Balaji was the Transport Minister of Tamil Nadu between 2011-2016. It is alleged that while being a minister, he along with his brother and private assistant worked to take bribe by promising to get jobs in positions like engineers, drivers and conductors in the Transport Department. Three FIRs have been registered against him in this case. In the first FIR, more than 2000 accused and 500 witnesses are named. In the second FIR, 14 accused and 24 witnesses are named in the charge sheet. In the third FIR, the prosecution has named 24 accused and 50 witnesses in the charge sheet.
Balaji was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on 14 June 2023 under the PMLA. Balaji resigned as a minister, about eight months after his arrest, before hearing his bail plea in February 2024. In February 2024, his bail plea was rejected by the Madras High Court. On September 26, 2024, the Supreme Court granted bail to Balaji.
